Final - Raiders vs Panthers, Sat. 830 @ CUA Stadium.

[Doomednow]

Yep, that's pretty much what I'm saying.

Look, I'm not saying you guys don't have a quality forward pack, but by the amount they get talked up around this board raiders fans seems to think they are nigh untouchable. Would you have given us a chance if we had Petero? I'm a huge fan of his but as someone who watches our games every week I don't think his absence is a crippling factor. He's excellent but we can cover for him pretty well. His biggest attribute he brings to the team is leadership. If you think we've got nothing on you guys forward-wise just because he isn't around you haven't been paying enough attention to the panthers this season.

I doubt the forward battle will be as one way as you seem to be assuming. The bunnies though they had some pretty good forwards too. Regardless of your opinion on them you can't argue they underperformed and were ineffective at winning them enough games.

Just don't get too cocky yet is all I'm saying.

 

[TheFrog]

I doubt they'll think that at all.

But without Civinoceva, Penrith's forwards will have one helluva time combatting Shillington, Logan, Tilse, Learoyd-Lahrs and Harrison.

These guys limped over the line against a Broncos side with one really good forward, the rest so-so. Canberra are formidable at home, with their crowd behind them and assisting them with refereeing decisions. This gives them the possession advantage they need to dominate opposition sides. With an even share of possession or less, the Canberra forwards have to do lots of tackling, which burns up the juice. Canberra more than most teams struggle away against good sides. This is why they are around $2.60 for Saturday night. So those of you who think Canberra cannot lose this game, and are over 18, I'd suggest you get on now.

 

[Ulysseus]

Just don't get too cocky yet is all I'm saying.

A sh*tload of them are already cocky as hell mate.
For the sake of the game itself (the spectacle that is) I hope the players haven't taken on this mentality, although I would say a couple of things have happened:

1) They were banking on playing Saints from the moment they beat Brisbane, the hoodoo and all of that.
Now it hasn't happened they are head f**ked.

2) They took way too much confidence out of the Brisbane win, supporters definitely did, hopefully not the players who should be able to find some glaring problems with themselves in that game, most notably being unable to savage an opposition that has been on life support for quiet a while, Penrith and Saints rested players / had players out and basically toyed with the opposition, hell Souths even had it all to play for.
Canberra gave it everything they had and won by 2, alarm bells should be ringing, I know they went off in my head when Saints only just beat Cronulla in the 2005 finals, to only beat what was essentially pathetic opposition is unfortunately not a good thing.

I am willing to wager that PC's notable absence will give them some kind of false sense of security, and we all know where that leads.

 

[Pete Cash]

lol we were written off only 10 weeks ago. Any result from here on out is a good one. I notice a lot of Dragon supporters deathriding the side though :lol:

Also our away from home form has been good this year. We have beaten the dragons, eels, warriors, manly, broncos and dogs away from home. Not every side is good in that run but that is vastly better than normal. This is the start of a different Raiders side. There has been a lot to like about the team this year.

 

[Ulysseus]

I notice a lot of Dragon supporters deathriding the side though :lol:

We are simply returning the favor, particularly from people like Raiders_Premiers who have made statements bordering on the absurd. :roll:

 

[Timbo]

I'm not feeling cocky and arrogant because of the lack of Petero, or any other factor like that.

Go back ten weeks and look at my posts - I wanted the coach sacked, the board sacked, the captain sacked and a halfback and a hooker signed as an emergency measure and obscene amounts of money to be thrown at Steve Folkes or someone equally experienced to run the club.

I'm confident because for the last ten weeks, EVERYTHING that I spend 15 odd weeks hacking away at the club about has vanished. Furner has abandoned poor tactics such as left/right halves. Buttriss and Waddell have started playing to a consistent first grade standard in the #9. And McCrone? He's playing out of his skin. At first I thought it was a fluke, but in all seriousness the kid has got his sh*t together and is playing to the standard that we all hoped he might attain one day.

We're a completely different side to the one that contested in season 2009 and the first half of 2010. We play open, expansive football. We have a gun fullback, solid hooker/half combo, top notch outside backs and one of the most devestating packs in the competition.

And finally, they're being coached to a degree that allows them to exploit their potential.


That's why I'm confident.

 

[bileduct]

A sh*tload of them are already cocky as hell mate.

They haven't printed out their Grand Final premiers shirts yet though.

How is your 2009 one holding up?

 

[franklin2323]

Those of you wanting to come to the game. I would get tickets ASAP it's going to sellout possibly tomorrow

 

[abpanther]

I'm waiting for them to go on sale tomorrow

 

[Ulysseus]

They haven't printed out their Grand Final premiers shirts yet though.

How is your 2009 one holding up?

Yawn, I suppose you believe everything else that piss poor excuse for a paper tells you?

The printing of GF shirts is controlled by the NRL etc etc et all.

 

[GC_Gladiator]

I'm just hoping that our guys give a good account of themselves. They seemed piss scared on friday night, and 2 of the three tries were fortuitous. The strong point of Friday night is that it was probably our worst performance of the last 10 weeks, and we still managed a win.

I see it as a pretty even match in the forwards. Grant has had a stellar seen until injury, and Mckendry is also stepping up. I think we have a little bit more in the forwards, but Friday night showed that any pack can step up on there given night.

 

[Cryptic]

They took way too much confidence out of the Brisbane win, supporters definitely did,

Ah no... The confidence comes form being the form team in the competition, beating both the top two sides in the past five games, winning eight of the last nine matches, and making the finals when all "experts", only THREE weeks ago, didn't pick us to even make the final eight...

What has your team done the past few years when you have been EXPECTED to do well... We are always the favourites for the wooden spoon but yet again here we are... How long ago was it the media were kicking up how Elliot was gone?

 

[Cryptic]

These guys limped over the line against a Broncos side with one really good forward, the rest so-so. Canberra are formidable at home, with their crowd behind them and assisting them with refereeing decisions. This gives them the possession advantage they need to dominate opposition sides. With an even share of possession or less, the Canberra forwards have to do lots of tackling, which burns up the juice. Canberra more than most teams struggle away against good sides. This is why they are around $2.60 for Saturday night. So those of you who think Canberra cannot lose this game, and are over 18, I'd suggest you get on now.

Refereeing descisions NEVER go our way in 50/50 calls... We are lucky to get 80/20 calls... Please point out a few which went our way due to the home ground advantage?

 

[Raidersrawesome]

. This is why they are around $2.60 for Saturday night. So those of you who think Canberra cannot lose this game, and are over 18, I'd suggest you get on now.

I got nearly 3.00 to make the 8 about a month ago , so 2.60 in a 2 horse race is good.

Canberra at their best will beat Penrith , but if we back off any we will be beaten.

 

[murraymob]

I got nearly 3.00 to make the 8 about a month ago , so 2.60 in a 2 horse race is good.

Canberra at their best will beat Penrith , but if we back off any we will be beaten.

they would have higher at the start of the year .Your last part of your post looks like you are looking for excuses

 

[Raidersrawesome]

they would have higher at the start of the year .Your last part of your post looks like you are looking for excuses

Not at all, Im actually recognising that Penrith is a good team and that we will have to be on our game to win.

 

[soc123_au]

Hopefully we pump you Merkins, we seem to go tit for tat in finals games & seems the last one in 2000 you guys won, its our turn. Should be a cracker of a game, good luck (but not too much)

 

[TheFrog]

I got nearly 3.00 to make the 8 about a month ago , so 2.60 in a 2 horse race is good.

Canberra at their best will beat Penrith , but if we back off any we will be beaten.

$1.90 or so in a 2 horse race is even money, above that you are the outsider, below it you are favourite. Maybe $2.60 Canberra is good value. At Bruce I have no doubt the Raiders would be favourites.

Canberra at their best and with a glut of possession will really trouble Penrith, as happened at Bruce a few weeks back. They'll trouble any team with all the ball. But you don't often get a glut of possession against good teams playing before their home crowd. Forced to do plenty of defence, the vaunted Raider pack comes back to the field quite alarmingly. This is why they came 7th and not first.

 

[TheFrog]

Ah no... The confidence comes form being the form team in the competition, beating both the top two sides in the past five games, winning eight of the last nine matches, and making the finals when all "experts", only THREE weeks ago, didn't pick us to even make the final eight...

What has your team done the past few years when you have been EXPECTED to do well... We are always the favourites for the wooden spoon but yet again here we are... How long ago was it the media were kicking up how Elliot was gone?

The last time Penrith were expected to do well was 2005, when they missed the finals by one win, having won their last 5 just like this year's Raiders. It's a while now since Canberra were the favourites for the spoon at the start of the season. 2008 maybe, certainly not this year (that was the Knights) or last (Penrith). The experts never get things right at the start of a season. All they have to go by is what happened last year, and no season is just like the previous one.

Not many are old enough to remember the era when St George won the comp 11 years in a row, it was a great run but also a period of stagnation for the game, as supporters of the other teams knew they wouldn't win it and drifted away from the game. It was during these years that the (then) VFL made huge ground on Rugby League, ground that has never fully been recovered. It was not until the outcome became unknown again that the game made some ground.

Elliott might have been gone at the end of '07 if the club had the cash to pay out his contract and buy a new coach. But wiser heads prevailed, results have gradually improved, and finally, in his fifth year, he has made it.

 

[Pete Cash]

lol thefrog you are living in a fantasy world. do you know what was happening during the losing streak at all???

I watch every raiders game. the forward pack was strolling through other sides and we were camped on opposition twenties for almost the entirety of the game. yet we couldn't score to save our lives. it was an issue in the halves for whatever reason. not an issue in the forwards. the loss to the bulldogs was just pathetic the amount of time we spent in the opposition twenty.

making metres was never the problem for the side. converting those metres into points was.

whatever makes you sleep at night.

as an aside the way the panthers supporters carried on after you guys lost against us was vastly more disrespectful than a few raiders supporters trolling back. you guys essentially gave us no credit at all and cried like bitches FOR WEEKS. chrisd for example started deathriding the club every chance he could get. blooo blooo blooo